Some Rye Questions

I am very much a rye novice and have learned a great deal from you folks who post here. So, up front, thanks to you all and forgive me if these questions would have been answered by more efficient searching

1) What exactly is the current status of Sazerac 18? Low supply? I was under the impression hat it was getting hard to find, but I saw it listed at Binny's with a limit of two per person.

2) Do you rye drinkers make a distinction between the bottling years of the Sazerac 18?

3) I saw elsewhere that VWFRR is available but the quantity is limited according to Julian Van Winkle. How is the supply holding up for those of you who are out there buying it? I've not seen it in VA, but I have a friend who can get some for me. Should I hit him up for a favor, or can I sit on it until September when we travel?

Re: Some Rye Questions

1) What exactly is the current status of Sazerac 18? Low supply? I was under the impression hat it was getting hard to find, but I saw it listed at Binny's with a limit of two per person.

Sazerac (as well as Eagle Rare and Stagg from the Antique Collection) are once a year bottlings. This years release of Sazerac was 3,825 bottles and the whiskey came from Warehouse Q on the 2nd and 3rd floors.

2) Do you rye drinkers make a distinction between the bottling years of the Sazerac 18?

To be honest Dave, I never really did a side by side between 2 different years of Sazerac, but I think there may be a little bit of a difference. I say this only because I remember having some about 2 maybe 3 years ago. I liked it, but liked the VWFRR better. Then this year, I had some Sazerac 2003 and VWFRR and was blown away with ow much I liked the Sazerac. Now the VWFRR could have changed for the worse but I found this years Sazerac to be exceptional, not too spicy, rounded flavors and a great floral bouqet. I have been meaning to do tasting notes on here for it sice I opened it and I think now I will have to do them later on!

3) I saw elsewhere that VWFRR is available but the quantity is limited according to Julian Van Winkle. How is the supply holding up for those of you who are out there buying it? I've not seen it in VA, but I have a friend who can get some for me. Should I hit him up for a favor, or can I sit on it until September when we travel?

Inventories vary depending on where people are. Honestly, I find bourbon and rye aren't as big here in NY as other places so sometimes when something sells out in KY it can still be found here, though NYC prices are generally a bit higher than elsewhere... Unless you are at LeNells! Actually, now that I thought about it, Tonya just recently did get in her shipment of VWFRR and she did say it was hard to get and NY didn't get much at all... So yeah, I guess it is hard to get right now. See if the bottles your buddy can get are from Lawrenceburg or Frankfort. If they are old ones from Lawrenceburg, get one or two. Just my opinion, but after having both, I liked the older ones from Lawrenceburg better. It may be the same whiskey, or my mind playing tricks on me, but for some reason the newer one I had from Frankfort I thought was a bit more 'unrefined' as I remember it.

Re: Some Rye Questions

Tonya just recently did get in her shipment of VWFRR and she did say it was hard to get and NY didn't get much at all...

I could only get one case in this last shipment and had a waiting list a mile long for it. However, I recently got good news that more is actually supposed to be coming our way so sounds like it's not as dire as previously thought.

Re: Some Rye Questions

I like the 12 year Old Tyme Rye by VanWinkle a lot more than the 13 VWFRR . Dead horse, sorry, it's gone to the various bunkers here and there, I do recall someone posting that they cleaned up a shelf full recently.

Re: Some Rye Questions

Bobby.....Lightning has indeed struck twice here in Houston. I was picking up some wines I had ordered at my favorite megastore, Spec's, and there it was again. A shelf full of 12 yo Old Time Rye...eleven bottles to be exact from the "A" bottling (which I assume was the first of several). They gave me the case price of $18.30 per. It was right next to the new VWFRR 13yo priced at $31. I've got to figure out where the distributor is finding this stuff. The bottle numbers are sequential, so they're not loose ends but from the same case. If they only knew what they had, they would price them accordingly.

Anyway, everyone who pm'd me wanting some the last time I found these has some coming for them at the festival in September.